Hi guys,
I have been following this forum for a while now. But this is my first post.
First of all, I would like to thank you all for the information you share on this forum. It's been a great help so far.
Here's my story:
I recently purchased a 2010 SE with 101.000 miles from a dealership. I was aware of the cross contamination problem, but for some reason I was under the impression that its 2005 to 2008 mpdels only. I only found this forum a day after I bought the truck.
When I test drove the vehicle, I checked the coolant reservoir and cracked open the radiator cap anyway. All was blue in colour and clear. No signs of milkshake. Transmission also worked fine. And as I wasn't aware of the fact that the 2010 models areaaffected as well, I didn't really think it was necessary to look at the ATF (I mean draining some).
After I had the truck home for two days, I checked the reservoir and saw that I had to top up about an inch of coolant. I also noticed on the same day, that thetransmission is shifting without any problems, but seems to be unsure if it wants to be in 3 or 4, when driven at low rpms/1000-1200. It does something like a double shift. It shifts from 2 to 3 and a few secs later goes to 4. It then hesitates a couple if seconds, before it really speeds up again, if I dont push the pedal down.
It has no problems making normal shifts, when I drive it a bit harder. And I don't mean pushing it. Just going a bit less for fuel economy.
Is this normal???
I did the bypass right away.
I did it as doctahjones described it on this forum. Only I needed about 20 cm of line and I had to buy two double barbed connectors because of that. More about that in a separate post.
My question is: when disconnected the hoses from the botom of the radiator, I cought about 20 to 30 mL of fluid. I only list a few drops, so thats all that was in the hose and came iut of the rad.
the colour was brown, with a reddish shine to it. I didnt smell burned. Neither did it look watery.
is the colour normal? Could the ATF just be aged? Or do I have a problem?
I'll have Nissan replace the radiator in three days from now. I opted for the cheaper OEM one. They say it's going to cost 750 canadian. I don't mind paying for the replacement if it saves the truck. But I don't want to pay for it, if the transmission is already damaged. If that is the case, it obviously had the defect when I bought it and I will go against the dealership for selling me a defect vehicle.
So I asked them to pull the pan and check for contamination. If they don't do it for free, I'll do it myself. What do I need to look for?
Please help me out with some info and suggestions on my case guys. Thanks